Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh involved in irregularities, says Jaitley

In a scathing letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party’s senior leader Arun Jaitley has made a number of allegations against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Jaitley has claimed that Singh, during his tenure as the Union steel minister and as the CM of Himachal Pradesh, has been involved in various irregularities to accrue financial gains.

Investigative agencies have not only refused to probe the allegations against Singh, they have “gone out of their way to harass the opponents of the government and help those violating the law”, said Jaitley.

Jailtey claims that Singh, during his tenure at the Union steel minister, received payments from the Ispat Group.

The Himachal CM and his family members, said Jaitley, have also been the beneficiaries of LIC schemes worth crores while they had declared, in their election affidavits, assets that were limited to a few lakhs.

He also pointed out that the Himachal state government, under Singh’s leadership, had extended the deadline for a hydel power project. The company in charge of the project -- M/S Venture Energy and Technology -- was under a severe debut burden. Yet, claimed Jaitley, the energy firm had provided a ‘loan’ of Rs 1.5 crore to Pratibha Singh, wife of Virbhadra Singh.

Jaitley has requested the PM to “look into the matter” as it needed the attention of the income tax department and the Central Bureau of Investigation.